The Domino Effect

"Esther unfolded the paper and read silently, 'Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?'"

Esther Larsen is a brilliant mathematician; she fought her way into college at 14, and graduated with dual degrees at 17.  For the past nine years, she has turned her amazing gifts into a job as a top risk analyst for one of the country's largest banks.  In her own time, she gathers data and analyzes the implications.  Now, she begins to fear what those implications mean for the country, and the global economy as a whole.  Does she risk speaking up?  Will anyone believe her?  Like her biblical namesake, has she been brought here for "such a time as this"?

Books with brilliant heroines are an immediate draw for me.  Esther is above and beyond even the typical gifted character, if there is such a thing.  The world of banking and investments and economies is completely over my head, and yet, this book is so well written, and the characters so well drawn, that it didn't matter.  I felt their tension, and their fear (perhaps a bit too much, sometimes!), and I was completely engaged in their journey, even though I didn't understand even a fraction of what they were afraid of.  I actually had to put the book aside for a short time, to let my own fears generated by the book subside!  But the author draws his characters together so well, and they come to care for each other in such honest ways, that I had to come back to them to find out how they fared.

I give this book 4 stars - if you're interested in the banking world, I'm sure you'll love it even more, but even if you don't know what an algorithm is, you'll still find plenty in this story to enjoy. I have read several of Davis Bunn's books in the past, and have found them all equally engaging.

You can find The Domino Effect HERE.
You can connect with the author on Facebook HERE.
You can also connect with him on Twitter HERE.


I received a copy of this book form Bethany House Publishers, in exchange for my honest review.